The
US intelligence community has been put to shame by the
dedication and determination of a lone Christian nun. Her modest
study of the videos of the Syrian chemical attack shows they
were productions involving staged bodies.

Those who take
the time to read the
report by Mother Agnes and the International Support Team
for Mussalaha in Syria (ISTEAMS) will realize that it disgraces
the entire US intelligence community for endorsing video footage
that is clearly dubious and not credible upon careful study by
even a layperson.

No one
denies that chemical weapons were used. The US federal
government and the mainstream media in the US and countries
allied to it have been playing a dirty game of equating the
a) rejection of accusations that the Syrian government used
chemical weapons with b) an outright denial that chemical
weapons were used. The two are deliberately being mixed
together to confuse the general public. The question is who used
the chemical weapons?

Which really throws me when I hear the hysterical ravings of John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi because they're both Catholic.

I'm Catholic and I'm pro-choice. That doesn't seem a dichotomy to me. That's a decision for an individual to make about her own life. War is a different matter. And I don't get how Kerry and Pelosi can present as Catholic and blow off the Pope's call for peace.

But maybe they're as fake ass as Catholics as they are on everything else?

Thursday, September 19, 2013. Chaos and violence continue, the KRG
holds early voting, the US government stages an event in Baghdad, Ayad
Allawi learns not to humor the US, rumors spread about Iraqi president
Jalal Talabani, John Kerry miraculously believes he has credibility on
Syria, and much more.

All of these words whispered in my earTell a story that I cannot bear to hearJust cause I said it, it don't mean that I meant itPeople say crazy thingsJust cause I said it, don't mean that I meant itJust cause you heard itRumor has it
-- "Rumor Has It," written by Adele and Ryan Tedder, first appears on Adele's 21

Rumor has it on Arabic Facebook sites (and other social media) today
that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has passed away. Last December,
Iraqi
President Jalal
Talabani suffered a stroke. The incident took place late on December
17th (see the December 18th snapshot) and resulted in Jalal being admitted to Baghdad's Medical Center Hospital. Thursday, December 20th,
he was moved to Germany. He remains in Germany currently. All Iraq News reports
his political party, the Kurdistan Patriotic Union, has issued a
denial: "The reports that were posted via some Facebook pages regarding
the death of Talabani are totally groundless."

Iraq has three security ministries. One person should head each one.
But Nouri never nominated people to head the ministries. Back in July
2012, Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) observed,
"Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has struggled to forge a lasting
power-sharing agreement and has yet to fill key Cabinet positions,
including the ministers of defense, interior and national security,
while his backers have also shown signs of wobbling support."

The Iraqi Constitution explains how someone becomes prime minister.
First, the Iraqi president names a prime minister-designate. That
person then has 30 days to put together a cabinet. Putting together a
cabinet includes nominating the people, getting Parliament to agree on
the people (vote their consent). The only way someone moves from prime
minister-designate to prime minister is via the Cabinet. This does not
mean a partial Cabinet. The reason for this clause is that this is
supposed to demonstrate that the person can work with the Parliament,
provide leadership and, where needed, make the needed compromise. An
Iraqi who was part of drafting the 2005 Constitution e-mailed that "the
entire purpose [of this process] was to prevent a Maliki type from
becoming prime minister. His failures in his second term can be traced
to his failure [as prime minister designate] to work with the
parliament."

How did Nouri move from prime minister-designate to prime minister when
he failed the only task for the position? Failure to name a Cabinet (in
full) in 30 days means the Iraqi president is supposed to name another
person to be prime minister-designate.

Nouri was able to ignore the Constitution in 2010 because his being
named prime minister-designate ignored the Constitution as well. The
prime minister-designate is supposed to come from the political party or
political slate that won the most votes. Nouri's State of Law came in
second to Ayad Allawi's Iraqiya. Allawi should have been named prime
minister-designate.

Nouri at first screamed for a recount. When that didn't change the
outcome signficantly, he dug in his heels and refused to relinquish his
position. For eight months, he refused to step down. Having the backing
of the United States allowed him to do that. They should have eased
him out.

They actually should have listened to Gen Ray Odierno who was the top US
commander in Iraq at the time. Before the March 2010 elections,
Odierno was saying Nouri might not come in first (a prospect the press
refused to entertain) and Odierno was saying that Nouri might refuse to
step down. But the idiot Chris Hill, apparently half-baked on who knows
what, insisted that wasn't going to happen and went around Odierno to
the White House which chose to believe Hill and not Odierno. History
has demonstrated the lousy US Ambassador to Iraq to be an idiot and
Odierno to be someone with keen observational skills.

The White House didn't just cover for Nouri to keep him in power for
eight months after the elections, they also pushed and prodded the
leaders of the various political blocs to sign off on a contract known
as The Erbil Agreement. This contract circumvented the Iraqi
Constitution to give Nouri a second term (illegally give him a second
term). Since The Erbil Agreement gave him a second term, Nouri was not
required to meet the 30-day rule for naming a Cabinet.

And the effects of that illegal maneuver by the US government can be immediately seen in the increased violence today.

"We are new to democracy, as a country, we are new to that." We'll come
back to that quote. Right now, let's look at some of today's violence.

Police source told NINA that gunmen opened fire, using guns with
silencers, at a shop owner in Ishaqi district, south of Tikrit, killing
him instantly, for cooperating with security forces.He added
that 3 improvised explosive devices went off near the body of the
deceased, when people and security forces gathered, killing 5 persons
and wounding 18 others.

Killed for cooperating with security forces? And on the same day the
Ministry of the Interior was attempting to spin cooperation. Today
Deputy Interior Minister Adnan al-Assadi told Al-Shorfa
that Iraq's tips line was a huge success. He insisted that there
"terrorism-related notifications has increased by 40% in comparison to
the figure from August." Wow. Nearly double. Can al-Assadi do math?
Some people -- and at one point a talking Barbie doll -- found math to
be hard. I certainly don't consider myself to be a math expert. But if
I'm reading an article about how helpful these phone call-ins are and
how their number has basically doubled and then you tell me that these
tips have helped you "arrest 28 suspects," even I can see something
wrong with that picture. And that's before you factor in that 28
suspects arrested is not even a large daily number -- mass arrests
account for twice that on a slow day in Iraq of late. And let's not
forget that Nouri used yesterday's weekly address to sell the Iraqi
equivalent of NYC's "If you see something, say something." If you've
had a 40% increase, you use your weekly address to thank people for
that, not to beg them to call your hotline.

"We are new to democracy, as a country, we are new to that." That was
Iraq's Ambassador to the US Lukman Faily speaking at the Brookings
Institution yesterday. He was actually replying to a question from
Brooking's Kenneth Pollack and speaking of the fact that Iraqi prisons
contain people falsely arrested. That's a large number of the Iraqi
prison population, though Faily tried to play down the number and also
tried to excuse false arrest and imprisonment with "new to democracy."
Is Iraq also supposed to be new to literacy? One of the world's all
time classic books is Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo whose
main character Edmond Dantes sets off on a course of revenge after he's
falsely arrested and imprisoned. The novel was the inspiration for
ABC's Revenge, as Stan noted last night. Revenge returns with new episodes Sunday, September 29th and, as she's done with the first two seasons, Rebecca
will be blogging about each new episode at her site. In the TV show,
as in the book, false imprisonment destroy lives and makes a person (the
falsely imprisoned in the book, the adult-daughter of the falsely
imprisoned in the TV series) lash out against those responsible.

And in that classic story, you find what continues to fuel the violence
in Iraq. Nouri's answer has repeatedly been mass arrests which have
imprisoned many innocents. This only further destabilizes the country.
And, as this takes place, the idiot Nouri doesn't even have, all these
years later, ministers to head the security ministries.

Baghdad, 18 September 2013 - The Deputy Special
Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (DSRSG) for Iraq,
Mr. Gyorgy Busztin, expressed extreme concern about sectarian based
displacement after recent worrying reports about forcible expulsion of
Al Saadoun tribal communities from Dhi-Qar and Shabak communities from
Ninewa, along with killings of members of Sunni community in Basra. كوردی "The
use of violence and intimidation against communities by illegal armed
groups forcing them to flee their homes is unacceptable and a clear
violation of basic human rights," DSRSG Busztin said, stressing that
this worrying trend may pose grave risks for Iraq's social cohesion and
may be disruptive to the ongoing efforts for national reconciliation.

The
UN Envoy called on the Iraqi authorities to protect communities from
attack, ensuring their safety, security, and right to a peaceful life
free of intimidation.

The Kurdish Globe reminds
the UN's death toll for last month was 800 Iraqis killed and that 5,000
have been killed so far this year. And yet what Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reported back in July 2012 is still true today,
"Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has struggled to forge a lasting
power-sharing agreement and has yet to fill key Cabinet positions,
including the ministers of defense, interior and national security,
while his backers have also shown signs of wobbling support."

"We are a new democracy, as a country, we are new to that." Lukman
Fally declared that yesterday at the Brookings Institution. He is
correct in his statement. And we can see how the White House
circumventing democracy in Iraq to give second-place Nouri a second term
has effected the country in terms of immediate violence. There's no
denying the impact there.

But there are other impacts. We saw one today with the laughable Social
Peace Conference -- it has at least four other bad names but that's the
one the US used and since it was really their staged event, let's go
with that.

But before we do, let's drop back to the day after The Erbil Agreement was signed. From the November 11, 2010 Iraq snapshot:Ayad
Allawi is the head of Iraqiya which won 91 seats in the Parliament
making it the biggest seat holder. Second place went to State Of Law
which Nouri al-Maliki, the current prime minister, heads. They won 89
seats. Nouri made a big show of lodging complaints and issuing
allegations to distract and delay the certification of the initial
results while he formed a power-sharing coalition with third place
winner Iraqi National Alliance -- this coalition still does not give
them 163 seats. They are claiming they have the right to form the
government. In 2005, Iraq took four months and seven days to pick a prime minister. It's eight months and three days and still counting.

Baghdad,
Iraq (KRP.org) - Iraq's political leaders yesterday agreed to hold the
parliamentary session as scheduled on Thursday and to name an individual
for the post of Speaker of the the parliament (Council of
Representatives). The Speaker post will go to the Al-Iraqiya bloc, which
is headed by former prime minister Ayad Allawi. During
the meeting, which was attended by the leaders of all the winning blocs
at President Masoud Barzani's Baghdad headquarters, agreement was
reached on two other points: to create a council for strategic policy
and to address issues regarding national reconciliation. President
Barzani, who sponsored the three days' round of meetings, stated that
today's agreement was a big achievement for Iraqis. He expressed
optimism that the next government will be formed soon and that it will
be inclusive and representative of all of Iraq's communities.

Martin Chulov (Guardian) reports
one hiccup in the process today involved Ayad Allawi who US President
Barack Obama phoned asking/pleading that he accept the deal because "his
rejection of post would be a vote of no confidence". Ben Lando, Sam Dagher and Margaret Coker (Wall St. Journal) confirm
the phone call via two sources and state Allawi will take the post --
newly created -- of chair of the National Council On Higher Policy: "Mr.
Obama, in his phone call to Mr. Allawi on Thursday, promised to throw
U.S. weight behind the process and guarantee that the council would
retain meaningful and legal power, according to the two officials with
knowledge of the phone call."

With that in mind, let's turn to today's pretend event.
NINA quotes Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi speaking at the Social Peace Conference:

What is going in the region of coups and sudden political
transformations, is calling everyone to behave as wise as possible in
order to avoied our people the major disasters. The
initiative put forward by Vice President Khudair Alkhozai is one of the
opportunities that we should stand with unreacted attitude.

He assured in his speech during the conference "The government failed in setting plans to protect churches and the mosques." "It also failed in reducing the organized displacing process for the
Shabak community in northern Iraq and al-Sadoun tribe in the south in
addition to neglecting the demonstrators' demands," he concluded.

Photos of the event are revealing. They are group photos. Not crowd
photos. That allows the US helpers to hide (but they were present and
spotted entering the meeting as Arabic social media notes). More to the
point, if Ayad Allawi hadn't announced he wouldn't be attending and if
his political foes weren't making a to-do about that, would anyone have
noticed?

No one appears to have noticed that Moqtada al-Sadr was not present.

All Iraq News notes
Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi did not attend the Social Peace Conference.
Good. He shouldn't. He also announced he wasn't attending yesterday.
It's not a peace conference. It's a US-event and Allawi shouldn't give
it credence.

Allawi has trusted the White House far too much. He is the Al Gore of
Iraq, the people's choice for leader who had the election stolen for
him. In 2000, the US Supreme Court stole the election on behalf of
Bully Boy Bush. In 2010, the White House stole the Iraqi election on
behalf of Nouri al-Maliki.

You sort of get the idea that if the US wanted any credibility with
Allawi right now, they'd dispatch Al Gore to Iraq to commiserate in an
"I feel you" conversation.

Allawi's been loathe to criticize the White House for the same reason
that Gore doesn't call out the Supreme Court -- it will be seen as
whining. But in this summer's interview with the BBC, prompted
repeatedly, he was able to note that, yes, the White House broke their
word.

Why did they do it?

The Erbil Agreement was made because Barack listened to idiots
(including Samantha Power and Chris Hill) and refused to listen to Vice
President Joe Biden who actually knew all about Nouri. The argument was
that with Nouri they could get what the US government wanted. So they
pushed for Nouri. To get The Erbil Agreement signed by the leaders --
including Allawi -- they insisted it was legally binding. They insisted
that their promise in writing that Nouri gets a second term is as
binding as Nouri's promises to them in writing -- in the same contract.
Furthermore, the contract -- they insisted -- had the full backing of
the US.

Nouri never lived up to any of his promises. He has not implemented
Article 140 of the Constitution (as the Kurds want -- and also as the
Constitution requires him to do). He's not created an independent
national security commission. He's not done any of it.

And the White House doesn't give a damn.

Let's go back to 2010 for a Guardian report by Martin Chulov:Barack Obama
will today make a personal plea to Ayad Allawi to join a coalition
government with his rival Nouri al-Maliki in a deal designed to end
eight months of political deadlock in Iraq.The
US president's intervention comes as fears grow among Iraqi leaders and
US diplomats that Allawi – the leader of the bloc that won the most
votes in March's election – will walk away from the government outlined
by the Kurdish regional president, Masoud Barzani, today.Although
Allawi is expected to let his followers take up positions in the new
administration, his rejection of post would be a vote of no confidence
in a deal described by the US as "a big step forward for Iraq".Until
now, Obama has left efforts to bring about a power-sharing deal to his
deputy, Joe Biden, who has made at least three trips to Iraq since the
inconclusive election.

The White House lied to Allawi. Specifically, Barack lied to him. They
used him to give their illegal contract the air of legality and
acceptance.

Today they wanted to use him again.

What struck me most about the BBC interview after Allawi's reluctance to
name the US government as one of the betrayers (under pressure, he
finally did) was how disappointed he still was by what took place.

He was lied to and he was used.

Attending today's event would have been embracing that all over again.

The US Embassy organized the faux event with Brett McGurk acting as lead
(and as usual, unable to keep his trap shut -- and somebody tell his
latest wife that, true or false, there are rumors -- two reporters
passed it on to me -- that his zipper's again come down). The point was
to create this 'reset' for Iraq that would have the press citing this
non-event as a starting point and not the April event so many outlets
are currently using.

The US State Dept ordered a re-set point to be established ahead of
Nouri's expected visit to the White House later this month. They really
want the press focusing on this non-event, on this so-called peace
conference (which accomplished nothing) as opposed to focusing on the
massacre as Nouri and Barack pose together for pictures.

Today's staged event wasn't about peace. It wasn't about the Iraqi
people. It was about spiffing up Nouri before he hits the US so that
Barack is protected.

The smartest thing Ayad Allawi could have done was not participate in the farce.

That's one example of how democracy was harmed in Iraq. But how much
harm has been done to democracy now that the Iraqi people see their own
votes overturned by the White House? We'll get a glimpse of how that
may have impacted democracy's chances in Iraq early next year if
parliamentary elections are held on time.

The Sept. 21 vote is the first to be held in Kurdistan, a three-province
autonomous region in north Iraq, in more than four years.
It will see three main parties jostle for position in the Kurdish
parliament, with long-term implications both domestically and farther
afield. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of regional president
Massud Barzani is widely expected to garner the largest number of seats.
But the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which is in government with the
KDP, faces a challenge from the Goran faction in its own backyard as it
struggles with leadership questions as its long-time chief Jalal
Talabani, the Iraqi president recovers in Germany from a stroke.

A
delegation from the Human Rights Commission represented by the Members,
Dr. Bushra al Obeidy and Dr. Fadel al Ghrawi visited on 11 September
the Kurdistan Region Electoral Office (KREO) to discuss ways of
cooperation between the two institutions since both institutions played a
great role in supporting the democratic process in Iraq through the
right of Iraqi citizen to live peacefully and participate in the
elections

The
delegation was received by the IHEC Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. Mukdad
al Sharify and the Board of Commissioners Members, Mr. Muhsen al Musawi
and Mr. Wael al Waely

The
meeting was addressed also participation and accreditation of the Human
Rights Commission as observers to monitor the upcoming parliamentary
elections of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq scheduled on 21 September

The IHEC has mobilized all its efforts for the success of the upcoming electoral process in the region

AFP's Prashant Rao is in the KRG to report on the vote. Today, he Tweeted:

Meanwhile, Raja Abdulrahim (Los Angeles Times) reports:An Al Qaeda-linked
group in Syria has seized control of a strategic town near the border
with Turkey after clashing with fighters from the mainstream opposition Free Syrian Army, or FSA.The capture of Azaz puts
the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria less than a mile from the Bab
al-Salameh border crossing, which has been under opposition control for
more than a year.

This is exactly why you don't
support the so-called 'rebels.' al Qaeda either is or is not a terrorist
group. The US government has maintained it is and that it is
responsible for the attacks on the US in 2001. That's not ancient
history. The White House does not need to be in bed with those who are
supposed to be responsible for bringing down the Twin Towers. But the
White House is in bed with them.

Albert Aji and Bassem Mroue (AP) add, "The U.S. and its European and Gulf allies are increasingly concerned
about the rising prominence of Islamists among the rebels, who have been
playing a major role in the battles against President Bashar Assad's
forces." Way too late, as Ruth Sherlock (Telegraph of London) explains, "The seizure of the town puts al-Qaeda in control of territory immediately
adjoining a Nato country for the first time, a development that will
heighten fears in the West about the rapidly growing power of jihadist
groups within the rebellion against the Syrian regime."

The US State Dept didn't hold a press briefing today -- apparently under
the assumption that any of that clown might distract from the War Clown
John Kerry's little event. The Secretary of State continues to preach
war on Syria. And you wonder why I'm not noting FPIF and IPS with their
stupid articles about how 'we won, no war on Syria!' Are we really
that stupid? Or maybe just they are. Syria is a target. It remains
one. Kerry's remarks today make that clear (link is text and video):We really don’t have time today to pretend that anyone can have their
own set of facts approaching the issue of chemical weapons in Syria.
This fight about Syria’s chemical weapons is not a game. It’s real. It’s
important. It’s important to the lives of people in Syria, it’s
important to the region, it’s important to the world that this be
enforced – this agreement that we came out of Geneva with. And for many
weeks, we heard from Russia and from others, “Wait for the UN report.
Those are the outside experts.” That’s a quote. “That is the independent
gold standard.” That’s a quote.
Well, despite the efforts of some to suggest otherwise, thanks to
this week’s long-awaited UN report, the facts in Syria only grew clearer
and the case only grew more compelling.

And that's about enough from him. I love you as a person, John, but I'm
having a real struggle with you as a politician right now as you lie
and whore for war.

It's also not a good day for John to be trumpeting 'facts' to the
American people. None of his 'facts' on Syria have yet to pan out. He
was ridiculed by everyone this month for his lie that he (and Chuck
Hagel) had been against the Iraq War (both voted to authorize it,
neither voted to end it). And today, as al Qaeda makes its presence
felt even stronger in Iraq, John wants to talk 'facts' again?

This week’s takeover of Syrian rebel posts by al Qaida-linked
fighters undercuts Secretary of State John Kerry’s assertion to Congress
earlier this month that moderates make up the bulk of the guerrilla
movement against President Bashar Assad’s regime and are growing
stronger.Kerry told Congress that Islamist extremists make up
only 15 to 25 percent of the rebels. But a closer examination of the
composition of fighting groups suggests that his figure is low.Charles
Lister, an analyst for IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center in
Great Britain, circulated a study this week that showed that al
Qaida-linked fighters and “hard-line Islamists” who coordinate closely
with them number more than 40 percent of the anti-Assad forces. “Genuine
moderates, with a distinctly nationalist-secular outlook,” Lister said,
account for 20 to 25 percent of the estimated 100,000 anti-Assad
fighters.

Again, not the day for John to lecture about 'facts.' And it's really past time he stopped being the skirt Barack hides behind.

Today, after a semi-lengthy delay to take an official photo of the 113th
Congress' House Veterans Affairs Committee, the Committee held a
hearing. Having sat through it, I'd like to cover it. Maybe in
tomorrow's snapshot. I'd also like to get to David Swanson's radio program this week.
I also need to note a friend standing up to the war machine (while
others present fawned). And I sat through the Brooking event so I'd
like to cover that. There's not room for any of it today. We do have
to make room for an upcoming event because it's important to get the
word out on it. From Restore the Fourth:

The recent NSA revelations have laid it all out: The NSA is watching
us online and on our phones. The NSA has corrupted security and
cryptography, undermining the fabric of the Internet. Its overreaching
surveillance is creating a climate of fear, chills free speech, and
violates our basic human rights -- and it operates without any meaningful
oversight.

But a movement is building to change all this. And we're about to take the next step.On Saturday, October 26 — the 12th anniversary of the signing of the
USA PATRIOT Act — thousands of people from across the political spectrum
will unite in Washington, D.C. to proclaim: Enough is enough. Stop
watching us.StopWatching.Us is a diverse coalition including more than 100 public
advocacy organizations and companies from across ideological lines,
including the ACLU, Access, Demand Progress, Electronic Frontier
Foundation, FreedomWorks, Fight for the Future, Free Press, Mozilla,
reddit, Restore the Fourth and Thoughtworks. This coalition is working
to organize the biggest mass protest of the NSA’s surveillance programs
to date. Will you join us?Hundreds of thousands of people have spoken out since the major NSA
leaks began this June. More than 560,000 people took action at
StopWatching.Us by signing our petition to the U.S. Congress. Dozens of
members of Congress have introduced bills aimed at reining in the NSA,
and hundreds of organizations and companies are uniting to end the NSA's
unconstitutional surveillance.But we will only succeed if we take the next step and raise our voices.At the StopWatching.Us rally on October 26, we’ll remind our elected
officials that they work for us, not the NSA. We are demanding a full
Congressional investigation of America’s surveillance programs, reform
to federal surveillance law, and accountability from public officials
responsible for hiding this surveillance from lawmakers and the public.
And we will personally deliver the half million petition signatures to
Congress.This will be the biggest rally for privacy the U.S. has ever seen. Will you be there?

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About Me

I'm Michael, Mike to my friends. College student working his way through. I'm also Irish-American and The New York Times can kiss my Irish ass. And check out Trina's Kitchen on my links, that's my mother's site.